In 1920 the Woolen Mills village possessed many of the attributes celebrated and sought after by “new urbanist” planners.

The Woolen Mills village had distinct boundaries, a golf course to the west and north, a river to the east, to the south its borders were defined by a park and the railroad track.

The neighborhood was pedestrian friendly; the activities of daily life, church, store, school and community were accessible on foot. There were diverse types of housing available.

We will walk east down Woolen Mills Road. Our guides are the 1920 Sanborn map, the 1920 U.S. Census, oral history, deed books, mill records and currently extant buildings. The red street numbers on the map are a modern addition. There are even numbers on the south side of the street, odd on the north.

First up, 1512 Woolen Mills Road, home of wet finishing foreman James E. Timberlake and his wife Annie. Timberlake was a bit of an odd man out, he didn’t have the family links to the community that so many of the Woolen Mills workers possessed.